Candles & Chaos
by Azayaka Kiryu
Summary: When Rouge realizes her feelings for Knuckles, the Master Emerald is stolen, and other strange events occur, all questioning Knux's sanity. Flames accepted.
1. Chapter 1

**Candles **

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As she woke up in the morning, Rouge yawned and pulled back the covers. She rubbed her eyes. She glanced at her clock on the side table, which said 12:28. "Damn." She thought to herself. She stood up and walked over to her dresser, where she opened up her bra drawer. She took her robe off and looked in the mirror. Her necklace was still on from last night. She removed it and grabbed her red strap bra. She put it on and walked over to her closet. She immediately grabbed for her heart top, but decided on a purple t-shirt with a big R on the front. "Yeah… loose fit. Perfect." She then looked for some jeans, and found a perfect pair. It was a black pair with chains hanging off the top two pockets and a red belt. She checked herself in the mirror and went to the bathroom to put some makeup. She put on her pink eye shadow and blush. As she did so, she thought of what she was going to do today. She immediately thought- find a jewel. But, her jewel days were getting old, just for this moment. "And there's nothing to do in Station Square…" She batted her eyes and went to grab a pop tart. Berry flavored, her favorite. She slipped on her boots and went outside for something to do. She decided to go down to the coffee shop. A cappuccino sounded good at the moment.

As he laid on the ground looking up at the sky, Knuckles grew bored. "Nothing's happened here. And I'm hungry." He hopped up and stretched. "Ow, I think I pulled a muscle." He said as he stretched. He yawned and scratched his rib. "And there's never any company. And when there is, its dear old Sonic wanting help with a battle or something." He shook his head. "Can't he invite me to a party? Years of guarding this precious thing, and doing a damn good job of it, deserves one." He kicked the dirt and watch the dust settle. He then realized he'd probably go to Destination Coffee. He looked around for any sign of danger. After realizing no one was there, he sighed. "And no action, either." He laughed out of pure boredom and he was off.

As Rouge walked into the coffee shop, she saw Knuckles sitting at a table with his back to her. She walked up to the counter, Knuckles still not noticing her. She ordered a vanilla cappuccino and walked over to Knuckles' table. He put his daily newspaper down and looked at her, totally surprised. "Hey Knuckles." He shook it off.

"Hey Rouge." She looked at him with her right eye closed.

"Don't see you coming down from that throne of yours very often." Knuckles looked back at his paper.

"Yeah? Well, I even need a break sometimes." Rouge giggled as she took another drink of coffee. She looked at him for a while.

"So, how's your time alone been? We haven't seen you in a long while." Knuckles took a drink.

"Yeah, I know. And my time alone has been great. No disturbances for a while." Rouge looked deeper at him. She wanted to know about the Emerald.

"How's your precious jewel?" Knuckles looked at her, suspicious.

"And, just exactly why? You're not thinking on stealing it are you?"

"Maybe." He laughed.

"Don't even try. I don't want to have to beat you down." She looked at him calmly.

"Oh, of all the times, you just can't beat a girl." Knuckles was now infuriated at Rouge's comment.

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" He sat down, breathing heavily. She laughed.

"Calm down Knucklehead, I was just kidding." She looked at him very hard now. "Ya know, you're kinda cute when you're angry." He looked at her.

"Thanks." He then continued to read. She finished her coffee.

"I have nothing to do. You know, Station Square and Metropolis, and even Angel City get boring once you've been everywhere, done everything… and stolen everything." Knuckles looked out the window.

"I kinda like it here. Only because I'm always guarding the Master Emerald." She handed her cup to the next waiter. Knuckles, who had finished his, did so. He walked out, Rouge following.

"I haven't seen Sonic around. Have you, Knuckles?" Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah. He went to the beach with Thystan, Frynic, Tails, and Hitail."

"Oh." They had a long conversation until Knuckles turned to her.

"You coming?" He pointed to Emerald Island.

"Yeah, if you don't mind." Knuckles looked at her seriously.

"Don't try ANYTHING." She waved him off.

"Oh, calm it down, you red headed jewel brain." They stepped on Emerald Island, and saw Team Restlex looking for them. Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"Knux! Where are you! The Emerald isn't being guarded."

"I'm right here, Liartra." They ran to Knux and Rouge.

"What's Rouge doing here, Knuckles?" Knuckles looked at Squire.

"She's company. It does get boring sometimes." Squire laughed.

"I think Knuxy has a girlfriend!" This confused dear old Knuckles. Rouge smiled at him. Then, he took it in and was angry.

"ZIP IT!" Team Restlex flinched at Knux's sudden scream. "Go play tag or something!" They nodded and ran off. Rouge looked at Knuckles, still smiling.

"Do you ever calm down?" Knuckles walked forward.

"Well, they get annoying." She shook her head.

"No, you're just paranoid. Can't you take a child's joke?" He blushed a little, Rouge not noticing. He sat down at the top of the stairs as Rouge looked at the flowers around the Master Emerald.

"The flowers are nice here." Knuckles looked down.

"Yeah, they actually are. They're fun to stare at when you're bored." Rouge laughed.

"You have to mock everything don't you?" Knuckles laid down and put his hands behind his head.

"I speak my mind, nothing less." he said with a serious look on his face.

Rouge picked up a pretty red flower and walked up the stairs. She handed it to him. This, once again, confused dear old Knux.

"What's this for.?" She looked at him, about to burst out laughing at Knuckles' lost expression.

"I figured I'd do something nice, since you don't have many people around to do just that." He shrugged.

"Oh…" He said thanks and put the stem in his mouth sideways. Rouge sat down and looked at him. At this moment, looking at him, laying there so quietly and calmly, she realized for once in her life that she had something for him. She didn't know what, but it was something. She started a conversation and they talked for about two hours, her occasionally saying something that pissed Knuckles off. Then, she started to fly home.

"See ya, Knuckles." He waved. She winked, and turned home. She thought for a minute. 'I need to make him angry more often.' She flew faster now, as the time reached mid-day. Knuckles just went to sleep, despite Cream was now in the feild picking flowers, andunaware that this was the last day that would be normal for him.

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This was sort of a fruity chapter. I show little pride in it. Chapter two will be up after at least 2 reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

This chap will be very, very, very, very short. This is a little, or, a lot late… I've had a friend over and have been very busy. But Here's chapter 2. But first, I got a comment that I agree with on my reviews. I, too, think that the characters are _REALLY_ offset. But, that can't stop me. I've lost contact with that 'Knux goes insane' deal, but I'll try and regain it. The reason I'll only update if I get reviews is because KnuxxRouge is getting old to some people. Not ta me though! Oh, and you know the 'Dear old Knux' deal? That is copyright Elektrik Shadow, another fan fiction writer I have contacts with. Also, because I love System of a Down and Bullet for My Valentine, there will be a few characters singing a few songs from them. You can sing along if ya want! Or email me and ill send the songs to you. LoL ok finally here we go.

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'Were did his parents go? Did he even have any? The poor thing!' Rouge thought to herself. As she flew to Emerald Island, she was thinking of odd things about Knuckles. Why? No one will ever know. She continued to think until she reached Emerald Island. As she approached him, he was asleep with a radio up decently loud and her flower still in his mouth. On the station, they were playing 'Aerials' by S.O.A.D. It went perfectly with the sunset, yet eerily at the same time. She turned it down, scaring Knuckles.

"WHAT IN THE HELL! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?" He jumped up. She laughed.

"Calm down." This is and will be a much overused phrase in this story. Knuckles quit breathing so hard. He shook his head.

"You should at least knock." She looked around.

"I don't see any door, Knucklehead. Do you?" He threw his hands up as if to say 'whatever'.

"You know what I mean." She rolled her eyes and sat down. He did the same and turned the radio off. She looked at it.

"Wait, you have a radio? There's nowhere to plug it in!"

"Yeah, well one day Tails decided I didn't listen to enough music, so he made me a radio powered by the Master Emerald." Rouge nodded.

"It's nice. Like a sport radio." He nodded. He looked at her seriously.

"Ok. What did you want?" She looked at him.

"To see what you were doing. I said it's boring down there. And that coffee you had this morning didn't wake you any more than I thought it would." Knuckles shrugged.

"Shit happens." Rouge smiled.

"I used to say that. But one day, nothing happened." She kicked an ant hill by her foot. "Oops." Knuckles rolled his eyes. He turned the radio back on.

-#let me show you just, what I'm made of#-

Knuckles rolled his eyes again.

"This song, again?" Rouge folded her arms.

"I like it." Knuckles, because he has a soft heart, kept it on for her. She blushed and started playing with her (I don't know if its hair or what but I guess it's safe to call them whiskers). She then looked out towards the field in front of the ruins. "You know what?" Knuckles looked at her. "This island is pretty." Knuckles fell on his face Pokemon-style.

"Well, of course. It's Emerald Island." She looked at him as he looked out.

"Damn, that feeling again." She said to herself. Knuckles looked at her.

"What?" She sweat dropped.

"AHAHA! NOTHING!" Knux just shook it off.

"Whatever." She looked at him seductively.

"What? What did I do?" She laughed.

"You are actually cuter when you're clueless." Knux looked at her funny. He just turned the station on the radio, where Bullet for My Valentine was playing 'Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow'. Knuckles smiled.

"Yay. Some metal." Knuckles bobbed his head to the beat. Rouge rolled her eyes. Rouge's stomach felt funny.

"I think I'm hungry." Knuckles looked at her.

"Then go eat." She looked at him, seductively.

"You wanna come?" He looked down.

"Well… I guess I am hungry…" She took his hand and pulled him up.

"OK! I'll pay!" Knuckles blushed and sweat dropped.

"I.. I was going to pay… you just leave that off." She nodded. As they walked down the stairs, Alexi Septimus flew through the air, again.

"What in the hell is his problem?" Knuckles shrugged.

"That's Alexi for ya." (Explaining the Alexi thing will take a while, it's just a thing I have with my friends.) They walked off the island to see Team Restlex playing some sort off game.

"I'm Fraygonot!" yelled Liartra excitedly.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm Grumbolianot!" Squire frowned.

"Ok, if your all Wankonots, I'm Barney!" Knuckles laughed.

"You know, they can be real num-nums sometimes." Rouge just laughed and continued home to change. Knuckles, with no further solution, was forced to follow. Once they arrived, Rouge turned to him.

"Are you coming in?" Knuckles looked at her seriously.

"Huh?" He put his hand in his pocket, embarrassed. (Yes, he has pockets, because he wears jeans in my story.) "Oh… yeah. If its not too much trouble." Rouge winked and smiled.

"Nope. Not here." She grabbed his arm and pulled him in. He looked around casually. "Stay here, let me change." As Rouge walked away, Knux stood there, with his pissed expression. He heard a knock at the door. He answered it, revealing Cream.

"Hi, Knuckles! What are you doing here?" Knuckles looked funny at her.

"Waiting." Cream giggled.

"Ok. Give this crown to Rouge when she is done. And trust the Trojan Man! Stay protected and don't encounter strafe! Safe sex is the way to play!" She skipped happily away as Knuckles stood there with a mixed expression of confusion, doubt, and anger. He shut the door, sweat dropped, and rubbed his head in confusion while looking at the crown. Since Rouge seemed to be taking a long time, he decided to try it on. He couldn't get it to fit.

"What the hell? Did she measure Rouge's head? This is some shit!" Rouge walked out as Knuckles finally just put it on his head, not even on. Sorta like a hat. Rouge giggled as Knux turned and stared, embarrassed.

"Hello, Queen Knuckles! You ready to eat?" She fell over laughing. He was now pissed beyond all reason.

"I AM NOT A QUEEN!" Rouge just laughed on. He threw it to her and told her about Cream. She accepted it and they headed out.

"Wait, you didn't even change!" Rouge fluffed her 'hair' and smiled.

"No, but I put on a few necklaces and different shoes!" Knuckles rested his hand on his face and walked on. After five minutes, they arrived at the restaurant.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, hopefully this one won't be so short, even though it might still be short… yea, ok. Finally my friend left and I can write the 3rd chap… I might even get the fourth up by tomorrow, regardless of reviews. I'm still off on the whole 'Knux goes insane' deal, but I think I have a way to get it back up. And, as an answer to a question in the reviews, a Wankonot is sorta like a Pokemon in the Sonic world. I just wanted to add a stupid senseless line to my stories by involving Wankonots. And I might soon be introducing Draith. Yes, Draith. Copyright draith500. Oh, and did I say flames are accepted? I am showing little pride in this story, but I'm gaining confidence because of some ideas :) So, flames accepted, I have a few myself. And feel free to express what needs to improve or cut down on. By the way, this story, and all the ones I will write in the future, take place _after_ my other story, Desolation. That means Eggman is dead.

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Rouge and Knuckles were sitting in a far corner of the restaurant, with ten beautiful golden candles on the table, like the restaurant always had there. Knuckles was enjoying every aspect of the restaurant, besides the fact he wasn't guarding the Master Emerald. Even though every time someone found him gone, they would fulfill his tasks, if they didn't have anything else to do. This, in their case, was the whole reason they came to Emerald Island anyway. Even though there's not much to do there, people had no problem taking Knuckles' job for him, usually because he had important things to do. But this moment was sort of just for fun, out of pure boredom and hunger. As Knuckles was looking around and taking in the fancy restaurant's beauty and organization, Rouge noticed a blue blur outside. She looked to see Sonic, and close behind, Thystan.

"Ahh, those two race almost daily. Doesn't running nine and a half miles ever get sorta… boring?" Knuckles looked out.

"That's what they're good at, it's what they'll do for the time being, which to me seems like it will be a while." Rouge laughed.

"When did you start talking in long sentences?" Knuckles looked around the restaurant once again.

"Dunno." He now noticed the menu, again, but this time decided to find something to eat. After all, he was hungry. "Wait, you already looked through yours?" She shook her head.

"No, but I know what I want. I've been here a few times." Knuckles looked down at the menu.

"Doesn't surprise me." Rouge looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" He looked up with a smile on his face.

"Girls like you love to eat in luxury. A place as fancy as this is almost definitely a place you've already visited." He pointed to the napkins. "Fancy, colorful napkins…" He now pointed to the lights. "Beautiful, expensive lights…" then he pointed to the golden candles. "And golden candles, ten of them, all on a mixed gold and platinum holder." He looked back up to her. "I'm sure you've been here, actually there's not a doubt in my mind." Rouge laughed and winked.

"You flatter me." Knuckles smiled. The waitress walked up to the table and they ordered their food early.

"Ok. Dinks? I mean, drinks?" They all laughed. Knuckles waved.

"I'll have apple cider." Rouge looked at him, eyes wide.

"They have apple cider? I'll take some also." As the waitress walked away, Knuckles looked at Rouge, confused.

"You didn't know they had apple cider?" Rouge blinked.

"No… didn't bother to look under the beverages. Usually I just want Coke, but apple cider sounds pretty good. After all, it is late fall." Knuckles nodded. A few seconds later, after a quiet period of staring, Knuckles' cell rang. He answered it.

"Knuckles. Talk to me." He said as he answered.

"Hey, Knux! What are you up to?" Knuckles rolled his eyes at Sora's voice.

"Are you calling me just to say hi? Or is this another one of your 'you're invited for a spot of tea' things?" He heard Sora laugh.

"No, actually I just wanted to know why you aren't guarding your Master Emerald." Knuckles cleared his throat.

"I'm eating at Hagzen's." Sora breathed in deeply.

"Oh. Ok. But, isn't Hagzen's a romantic type restaurant?" Knuckles looked around.

"Doesn't really imply that, but it might be." Sora laughed.

"Let me guess, you got Rouge?" Knuckles was totally surprised.

"What? How'd you know?" Sora, once again, laughed.

"Because, I saw you two when I was coming back from the 7 Eleven." Knuckles rolled his eyes, now a little pissed.

"Then what was this call for?" Sora laughed again.

"Because, these new cell phones are cool, and its Saturday, so it's free! I've been calling people all day!" Knuckles buried his face in his free hand. "Anyway, you guys have fun. And stay safe, you'll be sorry if you don't!" Knuckles was beyond pissed. He sweat dropped, stood up and slammed his hand on the table.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY?" Rouge giggled, as did Sora.

"Calm down. Bye Knuckles." She hung up, as did he as he sat back down. He looked out the window, lost now in thought. He quickly snapped out of it, though.

"Lemme guess, Sora?" Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah. She's got that phone thing in action, again." Rouge flicked her hair back.

"That's why she called me as I left earlier today then, huh?" Knuckles seemed not the least bit surprised. The food came, and they both started eating right away. Rouge was thinking to herself again. 'He's so… cute when he eats. He has such manners! But… wait, where did he learn manners? And why, again, is he red? Oh, who cares? Why do I ask all these stupid questions? They never get me anywhere. I doubt they ever will.' She rolled her eyes. Knuckles caught this, and laughed a little, almost spewing his drink everywhere.

"You thinking too hard again?" He asked. Rouge took a drink of her cider.

"Yeah. I've been doing this a lot lately." Knuckles took a drink.

"Are you thinking about why I'm red?" Rouge damn near choked on her next drink of cider.

"What? How in the hell did you know?" Her face turned red. Knuckles laughed inside.

"I honestly don't know. Just a lucky guess, I guess." Rouge just looked at him deeper now.

"You know, the red is sexy. But, how would you look if you had Thystan's green or Sonic's blue?" Knuckles was mad now.

"Why does everyone always compare me to Sonic?" Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, you asshole, it wasn't a comparison." Knuckles, embarrassed, wiped his mouth on his napkin.

"Yeah, someday I'll show that show off who's better at what they do." Rouge shifted her weight.

"Sounds to me like you have an inferiority complex." Knuckles, who was looking out the window (again), looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"What was that?" Rouge laughed.

"Nothing. You know, you take everything so seriously." Knuckles folded his arms in a 'that's right, and always will' sort of way. He then looked to the candles.

'My, my… these candles are beautiful, if none the least.' "Hey, Rouge? You think they would let me buy some of these amazing candles?" Rouge looked at him like 'WTF?'

"They might let you, why?" Knuckles shrugged and continued to admire them.

"They are beautiful. They have a sort of personality, like yours." Rouge blushed and listened as Knuckles gave a most unlikely speech. "They are beautiful, they glisten in their own light, they are quiet, gentle...but yet devious, sort of like you." Rouge looked at him now, enjoying every moment of this. Well, duh. Knuckles looked at her and frowned a little. "Sorry about that." Rouge giggled.

"That's not the Knuckles I knew. To just up and give some long preach about candles?" They both laughed in unison, then finished their food. Knuckles yawned.

"I like this place. Thanks for suggesting it." Rouge winked.

"Anytime." Knuckles looked in the direction of Emerald Island, then back to her.

"Umm… would you like me to take you home?" Rouge walked past him, brushing him as she did.

"I'm forcing you to. Unless your jewel is calling you back now, then I can make an exception." Knuckles, now in confusion, just sweat dropped, nodded, and followed. A few minutes later, they were at Grey St., about 1 minute from Rouge's house.

"Banana, banana, banana, terracotta, banana, terracotta, terracotta pie!" Knuckles sang to himself as they proceeded. Rouge rolled her eyes, and they arrived. She turned to him.

"Thanks a lot, Knuckles. I had a great time." Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah, me too, as far as getting out and friends go." Rouge smiled, for she took this as a compliment.

"Maybe you could come over sometime. I'd really, really enjoy your company." Knuckles blushed.

"I'll put that up for next weekend, I guess." Rouge smiled and got closer to him.

"And don't forget, Knucklehead." She slowly grabbed his hands and kissed him. He stood, defenseless, just letting it go how she wanted it. She let off of him and walked into the house. He just simply smiled and walked off.

"Guess I better get home now." As soon as he came to the corner, he stopped. "Wait… did she…" He wiped his mouth and looked at the lipstick. He stood there and let the whole moment sink in. He now fell on his face Pokemon style. He regained his balance and shook it off. He now slowly became angry. He clenched his fists. "Dammit! God, I'm so easy to seduce!" He continued home in this current 'part happy, part angry, part confused' fashion. When he arrived at Emerald Island, he noticed that something was missing. He heard a voice coming from in front of him, but all he could make out was 'Dammit', 'is this', and 'prank'. He gasped as he ran up to the shrine of the Master Emerald. "No… it can't be!" He landed at the top of the stairs to find Tikal, Sora, Team Sonic, and Frynic, but no Master Emerald. Knuckles had an indescribable look on his face. Sonic was talking on his phone.

"Ok. And you better not be late." Sonic turned to him. "Uh… hey, Knuckles. We need to talk."

As Rouge hung her flower crown that Cream made her on the doorknob, the phone rang. She picked it up.

"Rouge here." Immediately she heard shouting.

"DAMMIT ROUGE, IS THIS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR PRANKS?" She could easily recognize Sonic's voice.

"What?"

"DON'T YOU PLAY GAMES WITH ME, ROUGE! WHERE IS IT?" Rouge was now very confused and pissed at Sonic for his sudden screaming.

"Look, what in the hell are you talking about?" Sonic calmed down a little.

"Ok. If you didn't set this up, meet me at Emerald Island, we need to clear this up, or Knuckles will be pissed." Rouge rubbed her neck.

"But what is going on?"

"No time to explain. You'll have to see for yourself." He hung up. 'Dammit, Sonic! Why can't you just take it easy for ten minutes?' She threw on her boots and headed out.

"There better be a nice, good reason for this."


	4. Chapter 4

Told ya that story would get old fast! I know, I'm obsessed with Bullet For My Valentine…

As Rouge flew to the scene, she realized that something was terribly wrong. "The Island… it doesn't have its peace-like hue about it…" Her eyes grew as she realized what might have happened. "NO! THE MASTER EMERALD!" She now sped forward to the island. "Damn, this could mean Knuckles has gone crazy… he's probably losing it." She smiled as she flew now even faster. "But he's so cute when he's angry!"

"DAMMIT! WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED? IS THIS ANOTHER JOKE?" Knuckles was now redder than usual, as he was very mad. Mad enough for me to say I can't emphasize the situation. Everyone else, especially Tikal and Sora, were flipping out too. Julie-Su was also there, which surprised the hell out of everyone when she arrived.

"No, Knuckles! If it was a joke, we'd be laughing, because your anger is amusing." Sonic replied calmly. Knuckles turned around, eyes bloodshot as hell.

"DOES THIS LOOK AMUSING TO YOU?" Sonic snickered, trying to hide it. Knuckles was pissed… well, not like he already wasn't anyway. He dove at Sonic, almost connecting with his right fist.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" Sonic moved. They stood at each other's faces, scaring Tails.

"Ok, ok! L-let's keep it together, guys! Nobody needs to get hurt!" He exclaimed. Knuckles growled. The radio was blaring, due to the fact Knuckles needed music to calm down, but it wasn't helping.

# Torn apart at the seams of my dreams, turn to tears, im not feeling this situation… run away, try to find a safe place you can hide… it's the best place to be when you're feeling like- Me! Yeah! All these things I hate revolve around me! Yeah! Just back off before I snap! # 

The music played. The song was 'All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)' by Bullet For My Valentine. Knuckles looked at Frynic, who was near the radio.

"Change the station. I don't need any hate music." Frynic looked at him for a minute, then did so. Once on a new station, Knuckles looked back towards Sonic. Then, his eyes grew wide. He looked out of the corner of his eyes at the radio.

# Lost inspiration… panic on the rise... a severed attempt ignored… lost inspiration.. # the chorus played on, as Knuckles got pissed, again. He walked over to the radio, and changed the station himself. Everyone stared in silence.

# Bitch we have got a problem, There's not enough to get in it- Getting off, I'm getting off, keep getting off- # 

Knuckles didn't let the chorus finish. He immediately switched it.

# LIAR! KILLER! DEMON! Back to the river of a- someone's backsta- # 

He didn't need that. The radio was trying his patience.

# YOU! TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME! GO AWAY! YOU! TRY TO TAKE THE BEST OF ME! # 

Knuckles slammed his fist into the radio.

"AND I REALLY DON'T NEED ANY LINKIN PARK SHIT!" Hitail jumped up and screamed.

"GO AWAY!" Everyone stared at him for a minute, then returned to the current problem. Tails frowned.

"I never really understood Linkin Park anyway… I mean, what do their songs have to do with anything that-" Knuckles interrupted Tails.

"TAILS! SHUT YOUR FURRY LITTLE MOUTH UP BEFORE I SAW THE DAMN THING OFF!"

"You'll understand when Ynaffit leaves you." Everyone looked to where that voice came from. It was Rouge, who was just landing. Her eyes started to water when she saw no Master Emerald.

"ROUGE! DID YOU DO THIS?" Rouge looked at Knuckles with innocent but annoyed eyes.

"Hell no! Why would I do this? I've been with you!" Knuckles took this in and continued his rage.

"DAMMIT!" Rouge, Knuckles, and Sonic argued over what could have possibly happened, while someone was watching from a nearby cliff…

"Kamex! Could you get me another drink of Pepsi?" Kamex nodded as he walked out of the room.

"Yeah. Back in ten." Yuri turned to Shadow.

"So, the situation changed any?" Shadow continued to stare at the screen in his usual silence.

"Dude, there's got to be some explanation. Knuckles can't just give this up." Shadow listened as Sonic tried to calm everyone down, as usual. Shadow sneered.

"Foolish bastards." Yuri looked at Shadow, amused.

"That's the first thing you've said since 3 o'clock." Shadow looked menacingly at Yuri. Which had no effect; due they had the same personality. Shadow turned back to the main screen. Everybody turned to leave except Knuckles, Rouge, Julie-Su, and the rest of Team Exidna. Rouge walked up to him.

"I'm sure you'll get the M.E. It can't be too far." Knuckles glared at her.

"And just how do we know that? We don't even know how long it's been gone." Rouge folded her arms.

"You may be cute, but you can also be a real ass." she said. Knuckles huffed.

"And?" Rouge just laughed. Shadow noticed something on a different screen. He looked out of the corner of his eye to it, where he noticed a black hedgehog-looking character on a weird board. Shadow turned his head just a very little, almost completely unnoticeably, towards the screen. So unnoticeable, not even Yuri, who was looking right at him at that moment, could notice. Shadow looked on, and suddenly but quietly stood up and walked over to the window at the far side of the house. Yuri, in question, looked on out of the corner of his eye. As Shadow approached the window, he saw the character coming from the left. He watched as the dark figure in baggy jeans and t-shirt with the board ride it over the dark but beautiful plains.

"A trespasser." Shadow looked still at him as he silently rode along Shadow's turf. "Trespassing my base. Shadow watched for the remaining two minutes before the figure disappeared. He looked still where the figure vanished before turning back to the room with the monitors. Yuri greeted him in the usual Shadow-like, 'yeah, you're here… Fucking great… Don't say a word and we'll all be fine', way. Not that anybody cared. Shadow walked over to his large signature chair and fiddled with his watch. Yuri looked at him.

"You look pissed. As usual. But more pissed." Shadow continued to stare forward.

"A trespasser." Yuri nodded and looked at the now empty screen that once showed Sonic and the gang. "I'm sure we can handle him. If he dares come back. He probably didn't know that this was _my _ turf. But no chances taken." Shadow looked on, as which was happening a lot in his life. Kamex returned with two cups of Pepsi and gave them their usual stare that they needed to move out. For something important. Yuri and Kamex gulped down the beverage and started out. Shadow, of course, lead. That's the way things work where Team ShaDuxX stands.


	5. Chapter 5

Screw the two reviews. I'm bored and I really need to get this off. This chapter Knuckles realizes something. Yep.

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Rouge and Knuckles were looking for the Master Emerald in Station Square. So far, it seemed to be nowhere. Knuckles couldn't sense a bit of it, and it hadn't been in Angel City or Metropolis either. So it wasn't in any cities… it had to be somewhere else. 'Dammit… all these years I've guarded the Master Emerald… and all for this? Am I that much of a failure?' Knuckles thought to himself. He had just left the Casino, which didn't have the emerald. He saw Rouge fly overhead, and she saw him. He looked at her, and she shrugged and shook her head. 'Shit…' She flew off and Knuckles just kept running. He soon got tired of this and walked up to the nearest building and started climbing. When he reached the top, he walked to the edge of the roof and looked over the area. 'If only it shot a beam of light into the sky…' He shook his head and winced. 'Dang it! What am I saying? I _will_ find that emerald… if it means my life.' He jumped off the edge and started gliding, towards another building. After about a minute, he connected, and took two minutes to climb it. When he reached the top, he noticed a beam of light off to his left. He automatically knew it. "THE CHAOS EMERALDS!" He quickly ran as fast as he could and jumped off the building. 

-- -- -- -- -- --

(Back about 20 minutes earlier)

The figure raced forward on his hoverboard, jumping hydrants and benches and other small obstacles that would prove an annoyance to simply move around. He got out his box of Hot Tamales and ate a few. As he chewed, he winced a tiny bit. "Damn, that one burned!" He raced on, occasionally doing kickflips over the things he jumped over, and grinding benches along the way. He stopped in front of a gas station. He hopped off his hoverboard, picked it up, and flipped a switch. The light blue faint glow disappeared, and the faint buzzing faded. He laid it against the wall and reached in his pocket to pull out a map. He unfolded it and looked at the red dot on the map. "Hmm…." He looked a ways over to his left at a tall office building. "Yep. That's it." He put the map up and grabbed his hoverboard. "First, I'll get some Pepsi. Gotta love Pepsi. Then I'll plant the bait." He reached in his other pocket and pulled out a large red gem. He then reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a large green one. When he did, a high static gust started around him, causing a strong gust of wind. He quickly placed them in their pockets and walked inside the gas station. As he poured his fountain drink, he noticed two figures walk in the door. He put the lid on the drink and turned to them. One was green and gray with very long spikes, and a damn lot of them. The other was blue with two tails. 'Thystan. And Frynic.' He pretended to look at nearby chips as he watched them out of the corner of his eye. They walked over to the candy section and picked out a lot of Cherryheads. A lot, maybe 20 boxes. Couldn't count. Just then, the figure's cell phone rang. He reached in his pocket and grabbed it. Across the small screen read 'Mastermind'. He rolled his eyes and picked it up. "What do ya want?" he said, half annoyed.

"Draith. Have you set the bait yet?" Draith took a drink of his non-payed for Pepsi.

"No, but I'm right next to the spot. Stopped to get a little drink. I'm not exactly in a hurry, it's only 2." The voice on the other end grunted.

"Dammit, Draith! Stop wasting time! Hurry and set the Chaos Emeralds!" He hung up. Draith shut his phone as well.

"Dang, he could at least be more polite. Can't someone enjoy some soda?" He paid for his drink, flipped the switch on the hoverboard, and hopped on and headed towards the building. As he sped towards it, he shifted his foot back towards the tail of the board, onto a small button. He ducked down as he approached the small restaurant by the building and kicked hard on the tail, releasing the button. The board shot into the air, and as it descended towards the restaurant's roof, Draith shifted onto the button again. When he landed, he bent way down and rested his hand on a switch, a one different from the power switch. When he reached the end of the restaurant roof, as he was going in the direction of the building, he pulled the switch towards him, threw himself back as hard as he could, and released the button by kicking the tail. This produced a massive spring into the air. He was ascending 221 feet per second, quickly approaching the top. He took a drink of his Pepsi and leaned forward as far as he could, holding the nose. This caused him to flip forward. At 1,023 feet, he stomped a button in the center of the board, causing a large pulse under the board, sending it even further into the air. Finally, it reached the top of the building. He prepared for landing, but took a drink of Pepsi as he did so. This wasn't smart, as the landing came sooner than expected. The board hit the very edge of the roof, causing him to fly off the board onto the roof. He stood up and walked to the edge, watching his board fall. "Damn, no!" It soon hit a balcony of the building, not that many floors down. "Ahh, that's good. I'll get it after I plant the cheese." He stood up and grabbed his Pepsi (which, by miracle, hadn't lost a drop during the fall) and walked to the middle of the building. He kneeled down and pulled out one Chaos Emerald. He set it on the roof and pulled out a piece of paper that had a letter written on it. He put the letter on the side of the Chaos Emerald, then quickly pulled out the other emerald. The static gust formed again, and he put the emeralds together, the paper in the middle. He then grabbed his Pepsi and ran towards the edge of the roof. He jumped of to the balcony that contained his hoverboard, reclaimed it, still on, and jumped the balcony.

-- -- -- -- -- --

(Current)

Knuckles quickly climbed the building, as fast as he could… resulting in him getting there quickly. He ran to the Chaos Emeralds , which now had stopped glowing, for they had gotten used to each other. He picked them up and noticed a letter fall from them. He picked it up and read it.

_Dear whoever may find this,_

_These are just some presents I've left you. You will need them if you want the rest… and your Master Emerald. Sorry to say, even they may not help you get it back! HAHAHA! And remember, there's no piss in hell for you! Good luck, Knuckles, dear boy!_

_Yours, _

_Mastermind_

This both confused and pissed dear old Knux off. "WHO IN THE DAMN DIDDLY TWAT IS MASTERMIND?" Just then, Rouge flew up beside him.

"Where those Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles nodded and put the letter in his pocket. Rouge didn't notice this. "So, that's good. We found two Chaos Emeralds… 5 more and the Master Emerald to go!" 'I hope I sound interested enough… I'll be glad when he's back to normal… then I can have him.' Rouge smiled at this thought. Knuckles noticed.

"What are you so happy about?" Rouge looked up and blushed.

"Oh… nothing." Knuckles smiled and looked at her. His face straightened. He looked really closely at her. He felt something… something, warm… 'could I have feelings for her too? Damn, this is kinda sudden but… she's beautiful!' He continued to stare in his serious state.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Knuckles snapped out of it and gave her a sort of 'hey, sexy' glare. He walked over to her and grabbed her hands.

"Thanks… for trying to help. You know, you didn't have to." Rouge, confuzzled, looked at his hands, then realized what was happening. She looked back up at him seductively (which is gonna happen a lot in this story. Seriously. One of those 'dammit, overused' moments).

"Yes I did. You know you needed me." He continued to stare in his almost hypnotized state.

"You know…" he grabbed he lower back with his right hand. "I think I did." They looked and goggled a few seconds longer, then kissed. A big long one, like in the movies. I know, big fluff moment. They finally (after, like, literally 17 seconds, no less) broke free and just… stared, again. "Let's go. It's getting old up here." Rouge nodded.

"I guess so." They walked, holding each other by the waist, towards the escape exit door, entered the building, and took the elevator down to the first floor. While going down, Knuckles looked at her again.

"Lets go to the beach. I think I'm done for the day." Rouge flinched.

"What? You're not going to look for the Master Emerald?" Knuckles shook his head, still smiling.

"Nope. I'm done." She was confused.

"It's not like you to just… quit! Why?" He frowned, but quickly smiled and closed his eyes.

"Cuz you're here. That's all I want right now." Rouge smiled.

'Now that's the way I likes it!' "Till sunset? Then to my place?" Knuckles laughed.

"Actually, that's what I had in mind." She smiled even bigger and resten her head on his shoulder, as they continued down the elevator shaft.

* * *

Yeah. So Knuckles wakes up. If I were him, I would have dug into that shit in the second chapter. Lol, no, I'm no perv, and Rouge is hott. Yup. 

------------, --------, -----, ---------,  
IIIIIIIIII...--------... O

-------------------------------------  
.., ---------, ---------, --------------  
/ XXXXXX /I /  
/ XXXXXX / .. ..  
/ XXXXXX /-------  
/ XXXXXX /  
/ XXXXXX /  
()

I tried to shoot myself with one of these, and it backfired and hit the person in front of me.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, now that I got tha last few chaps up the two reviews can start again. Once I get to about 20 reviews, I'll know whether or not to keep going. Ok, here we go.

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**IMPORTANT**

Does anyone even want this to continue? I'm losing interest, that is if you are. Tell me if I should discontinue this story or not, plz.

* * *

The sun lay just beyond the horizon, one of those 'the sun is _huge_ and red' western-style days. A light breeze was blowing, and the ocean looked beautiful with the sky a purplish color straight above, fading into pink then yellow, and dark-dark bluish clouds. Rouge was lying with her head on knuckles' lap with her arms behind her head, looking up at him as he stared out over the ocean, with a calm smile and eyes half closed. He had his arms on her waist and shoulder. She watched his every move. He looked down at her. She smiled back, then reached up to kiss him, which she succeeded in. They sat lip locked for what seemed like forever, until they broke into a hug. Rouge closed her eyes. 'Now _this_ is how I like it.' She quickly opened them to see three dark figures off in the distance. She tapped Knuckles on the shoulder, making him turn around. He was smiling, but his smile quickly faded. Now standing in front of them was Team ShaDuxX, with Shadow in front, as always. Shadow smiled evilly.

"Hello, echidna breath." Knuckles clenched his fists.

"What the hell do you want?" Yuri stepped up.

"Shut up. We need to talk to you. Big boy talk." Knuckles sneered as Yuri said that last line.

"No funny stuff, Shadow." Shadow nodded. Kamex nodded, too, then spoke.

"Yeah, this isn't Tellytubbies, dear boy." he said darkly. Knuckles sneered. Shadow now spoke.

"I see you're missing you're precious jewel. What, you chickened out and stopped guarding it, because the alone time and lack of publicity finally got to you and was too scary for poor Knuckles?" Knuckles popped a vein in his forehead.

"YOU WATCH IT YOU-"

"SHUT UP DAMMIT! Calm down, red face. Now, back to the point. You should watch your friends more closely." Knuckles stood up.

"What do you mean?" Yuri nodded towards Rouge.

"Think about it. Everyone who wasn't with you and Rouge when you went to that diner." Knuckles flinched when Yuri said this.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW AB-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Knuckles flinched again. "Not everything is what it seems. Take it into consideration." Just then, Sonic could be seen running towards them.

"Hey! Knuckles!" Shadow looked towards him and sneered.

"Faker. Dammit." Sonic walked up to them and waved.

"Hey, Knux! And hey, Shad! Long time no see!" Shadow sneered again, then looked towards Knux.

"Trust nobody, echidna breath." He waved at Sonic. "And faker…" Sonic gave the thumbs up. "… smell ya later." Sonic flinched, pissed, as Shadow said this and chaos controlled away.

"Hey! That's my line!" Knuckles turned to the ocean with his head down. Rouge walked up to him and hugged him. Knuckles grabbed her hand in response.

'What the hell is that bastard talking about?' Rouge kissed him on the cheek.

"Ignore him. He's always intimidating. We could never trust him, anyway." Knuckles took this in and hugged her. As he did, something flashed black in the distance beyond the water. Sonic and Knuckles and Rouge looked, curious. "What the hell was that?" Sonic shook his head.

"I don't know..." As they looked out, they could barely see what looked like a small wave way in the distance. They just brushed it off until they heard Frynic's voice.

"It's way out there! And it looks like its gaining a decent amount of size! The three turned to see Frynic, Hitail, and Team Restlex. Suddenly, all the water from the beach sucked out into the ocean a few feet, making the beach bigger. Sonic stood wide eyed.

"This is not good." he said with a mumbling tone. All of a sudden, Tails, Ynaffit,

and Mijjett flew overhead.

"Quick Sonic! The Chaos Emeralds!" Everyone nodded. Then everyone was running towards Amethyst and Emerald Islands. When they arrived, Sora was looking at the wave, not at all worried. Tails flipped out.

"How can YOU not be worried! We're all gonna die!" Sora looked at Tails calmly.

"Ignore it." Everyone gasped at her.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IGNORE IT? ARE YOU SHITTIN INSANE?" Sora bowed her head and closed her eyes.

"It's fake." Everyone was now spellbound again. Liartra walked over to Knuckles.

"Ok. If it's fake, this punch won't hurt Knux." Liartra swung as hard as he could, connecting with Knuckles' lip.

"AHH!" He fell back a little, in pain. Everyone stared. Knuckles looked at Liartra.

"YOU LITTLE!" he dove at Liartra, but Thystan stepped in front of him and held his hand out.

"No. Calm down." They all turned to watch the wave, which was now fully visible and huge beyond all reason. They just watched, trusting their dear purple echidna friend.

- - - - - -

As he sped towards the wave on his hoverboard, Draith held a large ball in his right hand. He looked at it and scratched his head. "I still don't see how one small ball can stop a six hundred foot wave…" He shrugged and sped ahead. When he approached, he flinched a bit. "That's a damn big wave!" He came up right behind it and pushed a few buttons on the ball, backing up. He then threw it at the wave and headed full speed back to Mastermind's Island. "He never un-succeeded." As he looked back, he saw a large explosion, with purple mist. "O……….k…….."

- - - - - -

The gang watched as the wave disappeared. "What…. Fuck…." They all stood wide eyed for literally five minutes. Then Hitail broke the silence.

"WANNA PLAY TAG?" Nobody answered. Knuckles took this in for

a while, then nodded and turned to her with a large smile and eyes as big as CD's. Rouge stepped back a bit. "Whoa! What the hell is wrong with you?" Knuckles inched towards her and gently pushed her out of the way. He stared at Sonic, who stared back in a state of confusion and fear. Knuckles dove at Sonic and tagged him.

"YOU'RE IT!" Knuckles took off running, and Hitail followed. Everybody stared wide eyed for a minute, then shrugged as They ran. Sonic stood alone now.

"Ahh, jeez… oh well." He then sped off in Knux's direction.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm getting the feeling this story will come to a sudden end. I realized I have to finish it because it explains… well, I might just quit and tell you guys in another story due to flashbacks…. But not before I get a few more chaps! I'm soon going to change the rating to M! Due to upcoming chaps, the rating will change, so if it seems I never update, or I don't for at least 2 weeks, it's been moved. And what in the hell is yoai?

**Attention-** I wanna know your true thoughts. NO lies. Even if it's a flame, shoot it off. I really want to know what I should or shouldn't change. PLZ tell the truth. EVEN if it's a FLAME!

**DISCLAIMER: **THE RATING SHOULD BE CHANGED TO **M** SOON! AND TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK A YOAI IS!

Knuckles sat on the park bench, which was a very common spot for him on Wednesdays, thinking of what was going on. 'What has the planet come to? The Emerald stolen, the fake wave, how Sora knew it was fake, and the letter…' Knuckles quickly looked up into the sky, enraged. "AND WHO THE FUCK IS MASTERMIND?" A few birds flew out of the trees and the few people at the park at this time stared as they walked by. Knuckles paced back and forth between the light poles on each side of the bench, their light shining radiantly down on him as the night danced around the several small areas in the park that weren't lit. After several minutes of pacing, cussing, and yelling, a note dropped from out of nowhere onto him. He looked up and then to the raven that had dropped the letter, which screeched as it rounded a corner across the street. Knuckles scratched his head and bent down to pick up the note. "Aww, damn…" he said quietly as he picked up the note. He started reading.

_First off, duck._

Knuckles rubbed his head but ducked, thinking nothing would happen. Just as he did, a gunshot; a bullet whizzed over his head, and he looked up to see someone across the street jump in a car with a man with a gun chasing him. Knuckles looked back at the letter, wide eyed.

_You're probably thinking how I knew, but its not important. Anyway, if you look up above the 7 Eleven tonight, you will see something that may spark your interest… Happy hunting!_

_Mastermind_

Knuckles frowned. "WHO IN THE HELL IS MASTERMIND!" He settled down and put the letter in his pocket. He looked towards the nearest restaurant, and just as he did Alexi Septimus flew through the air. Knuckles sighed. "Does he ever give up?" He started running really quickly through the town, dodging people as he headed to 7 Eleven. He finally stopped at a street corner. He panted in fury. "Dammit! I forgot the way! How could that happen?" He looked to his left to see a girl carrying a box that had a green emerald on the side. He looked right and saw a diamond on top of Jewel's Luxury. He looked next to him and spotted an emerald in a young woman's ring. He grabbed his dreadlocks and started running. He ended up at the 7 Eleven. "Oh. OK. I forgot, MAPLE St. not APRIL St." He looked up and saw nothing. He folded his arms and tapped his foot. "C'mon… where in the hell is it?" He looked inside, where he saw Thystan and Kari getting drinks from the fountains. "Or more importantly, what?" He said and he ran around the corner to avoid Thystan and Kari. He didn't need anyone in his way when this 'thing' came. Once they were out of sight, he climbed up the side of the building. He looked up and waited impatiently for about five more minutes. All of a sudden he felt the Master Emerald's presence. Then, a large green jewel flew through the sky at a slow rate. Knuckles gasped. "It can't be! THE MASTER EMERALD!" He jumped up to it, and the feeling grew stronger. When he was within ten feet of it, it disappeared. "Wh.. WHAT?" He descended and landed in a Spiderman-like pose. He walked over to a near tree and sat down, very confused. He felt another presence, but he ignored it. He was done for the night. "I'm going to bed right the fuck here." Put his head on the tree and waited to fall asleep.

- - - - - -

Draith skated through the halls with yet another Pepsi in his hand, making his way to the main laboratory. He jumped over a small cleaning robot, which tried to swat at him with it's broom. He turned around and flipped it off. He then continued down the circular maze-like hallway, cutting into another hallway. He almost ran into a 'Slippery When Wet' sign that had been placed by the cleaning robot. He finally arrived to find Mastermind hooking up the new jewel to a few machines. "Hey, Double M. How's your precious Emerald?" Mastermind turned to face Draith.

"I told you, stop calling me 'Double M'! It's Mastermind to you!" Draith waved him off as he took a drink of Pepsi and walked over to a desk and sat at it.

"Whatever." Mastermind shook his head and straightened his robe.

"It's going to be a few days till its ready. BARK! THE REMAINING 5 CHAOS EMERALDS! IN HERE NOW!" he yelled as he walked towards another machine. A yellow-tinted polar bear walked in with a bag that was sealed with a string. Draith kicked his legs up on the desk impatiently.

"Ok, _Double M_. What did you want me for? You're disrupting my boarding!" Mastermind nodded.

"Right. Your job. I need you to lure a few of his friends here. Usually I'd tell you what to do, like leave a note, but I'm too busy. Make something up." Draith stood up.

"So I get to do my own thing?" Mastermind turned to Bark.

"Blow your ass off." Draith quickly screamed 'YES!' and was on his board and out before you could notice. Mastermind shook his head. "The immature little jew."


	8. Chapter 8

This is getting nowhere. But for those reading this you **_HAVE_** to read this before Her Way, All The Way, No Exceptions to understand anything. Really, to understand this, you sorta have to read Desolation. Or wait, no, I suggest you read it before anything else I write or you will be confused as hell. My stories go in a consecutive order, starting with Desolation and ending with Can't Take Back. For more info, check my profile.

**Rougerluz**: yea thx for the yoai. OO though.

**Farubafan**: Hahaha okies? Hahahahahahaha LMFAOLMFAOLMFAO

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Draith was just about to Jaster St. He had been looking for Knuckles' friends, or Knuckles himself, but no one was anywhere in sight. They weren't in their respective homes, and Draith barely knew anything about the crew's hangouts, but he didn't know why, because Mastermind never wanted him to have anything to do with that. 'God damn, he's so picky… he never trusts me, I might as well just _tell _Knuckles about his plans, and have that echidna kick his ass!' As he pulled around the corner, he saw the red echidna talking to some strange hooded figure. He pulled aside and secretly listened to the echidna and stranger talk.

"No Knuckles. That was a misunderstanding." Knuckles clenched his fists.

"You said you worked for Mastermind, now TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" The strager stomped his foot.

"My dear old Knuckles… there is no Mastermind." Draith spit out the Pepsi he was preparing to swallow. Knuckles fell on his face Pokemon-style.

"WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" The stranger laughed and waved his hand. He disappeared. Draith stood with his mouth hung open. Knuckles punched a hole in the ground over and over, until it was deep enough to make a small pond. Passers by watched, confused, for the calm and fearless Knux they once knew was now destroying city property, including a few hot dog stands, light poles, and just a few more holes in the sidewalk. Draith watched as Knuckles disappeared behind a corner, enraged.

"No Mastermind? That guy was a freak! Who in the hell's damnation was that?" He thought for a while, then decided to continue looking. He hopped on his board and took off down the street. "Now. I think I've got my sights on Sonic and Tikal. And Kari…" Whilst thinking about Kari, he ran into a lightpole. He fell to the ground as his hoverboard flew a few feet in front of him. He rubbed his forehead and threw his Pepsi bottle across the road. It landed in a little baby's carriage, making the baby start crying. He stood up and ran to his hoverboard, jumping on it, taking off. "Dammit! That fucking hurt!" Whilst paying attention only to his forehead and not what was in front of him, he ran into someone, who fell down along beside him.

"OOMPH!" the character 'said' as it fell. Obviously someone had seen Draith run into the lightpole.

"How many things can one guy run into?" the human said as he walked away. Draith rubbed his forehead again and looked to the person he ran into.

"Sorry about that." He noticed the figure's white fur. He immediately know who it was. She shook her head and frowned.

"Ow." Draith stood up and held his hand out to Rouge. She looked at him and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up.

"I'm so sorry about that, Rouge. I guess I need to watch where I'm going." Rouge jerked her head in his direction.

"How do you know I'm Rouge?" Draith sweatdropped and smiled in an embarrassed way.

"I uh… heh heh… just do." Rouge shifted her weight and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't gimme any bullshit. How in the hell do you know my name? What are you, a stalker?" Draith shrugged.

"More like a spy, but whatever you want to call it." She rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"I've had lots of those, anyway." Draith couldn't help but speak his mind.

"I can see why." he said, staring at her breasts. She looked at him evilly and folded her arms.

"Ex-_use_ me?" Draith shook his head and sweatdropped again.

"Nothing- just… complimenting." Rouge waved him off.

"How do you know me anyway?" Draith looked blankly at her. "Oh. Yeah." She put her hand on her chin. "I wonder, you say you're a spy?" Draith nodded. "You did a pretty good job of it, as far as not letting me know anything until now." Draith blushed. "You think you could keep an eye out for my Knuckles for me?" Draith nodded.

"Yeah. Actually he's been the main focus of this whole spy gig." Rouge gave a face that showed an impressed expression and a look of approval. Draith smiled. "Oh yeah, Mastermind is gonna LOVE it when I tell him I made friends with Knux's girlfriend!" Rouge flinched.

"Mastermind?" Draith fell on his back Pokemon-style, realizing he just blew the barrier away. How many times could he mess up in ten minutes? "Isn't that the name on that note?" Draith stood back up and nodded.

"Yeah. But I'm damn near quitting this job. It's all about him, and the shit he puts me through deserves triple what he pays me. Like getting the Emerald wasn't enough already. And I only got $80 for that!" Rouge grabbed his shirt rim.

"YOU KNOW WHERE THE MASTER EMERALD IS?" Draith sweatdropped as Rouge held him by his shirt.

"Yeah, yeah! Damn! Calm down! I do! But getting it back will NOT be easy…" Rouge smiled.

"You don't know what I'm capable of. NOW TAKE ME TO IT!" Draith stumbled backwards at Rouge's shouting. He regained balance and nodded.

"What's the pay?"

"This is." Draith turned to see Sonic holding $300 in fifties in his face.

"SONIC!" Sonic nodded.

"Damn straight. Red has been a long time friend of mine, and I'd do anything right now to help his. Judging from his current mental status, he needs the help." Sonic pointed down the road to a very enraged Knuckles, still knocking over the defenseless light poles. Rouge chuckled a little.

"We best not tell him yet; he'd get overexcited and hyperventilate. Let's just leave him be." Draith laughed at Rouge's humorous comment. He motioned to the two to follow him, hopped on his board, and took off. Sonic and Rouge looked at each other, nodded, and followed along.


	9. Chapter 9

"Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa Yeah! Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa Yeah!" God I love that song! "No matter how life tries to face me," I LOVE HOW THEY SING THAT PART! Who sings that? Julien-K or Crush 40? Or neither? And does anyone know the band Mushroomhead? Anyway, here's the next chapter.

* * *

Draith looked at Rouge and Sonic, who were following him to Eggman's base. He grinned. 'Screw quitting! This will get me big money! From Mastermind AND them!' he thought to himself. He could see the base in the distance. "Almost there! Be ready, because his security is tight!" Sonic gave thumbs up.

"Danger is Go!" Rouge laughed.

"Me? Get ready? I'm a thief, dammit!" Draith smiled even bigger. They pulled up to the shore of the island and Draith hopped off his hoverboard. His leg landed in a hole, and he fell to his knees.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Sonic smiled.

"Good job." Draith frowned.

"Shut up. I'm helping you." Draith walked up to the hand scanner on the left side of the door. He put his hand on it, and then once he heard a beep, he typed in a password. The door opened and the three stepped inside. Draith motioned towards the halls. "We should split here. Find the main Laboratory; I'll be waiting for you. And stay hid. If you find somewhere to hide." The two nodded, and they went different direction.

- - - - - -

Draith skated down the halls, making his way to a Safe Room. Once he arrived in the nearest one, he stepped inside. There were many utensils in there, being handcuffs, boxes, guns, many scientific tools, a shelf of fuses, and file cabinets. He set his hoverboard down and walked to the far left corner, where a billion pairs of handcuffs were. He grinned evilly and grabbed two. He walked out of the Safe Room and headed to the main lab. 'This is going to be fun.'

- - - - - -

Sonic pushed himself against the wall and looked around the corner. There were a few video cameras and a cleaning bot. 'Hmph! This'll be easy!' He waited until the cleaning bot turned the other direction and quietly ran to the other wall, away from camera's view. He waited until the next camera faced him before he took off as fast as he could into a room a few yards away. He waited till the bot once again faced the opposite direction and took off down the hall. He did this consecutively down different halls until he found the main lab's doors. Being he was out in the open and had nowhere to hide and five or six cameras surrounding the door, he took refuge in a room a few feet away from him. As he entered the room, he saw Draith float by on his hoverboard. "Draith!" Draith turned around to face Sonic.

"Oh. There you are. Stay in there and I'll go annoy Mastermind so he'll leave the lab, allowing you guys in." Sonic nodded. 'Hahaha! These people believe me? YES!' he thought menacingly as he entered the Main lab with yet another scan and password.

- - - - - -

(Rouge arrived the same way about three minutes after Draith entered the lab.)

Mastermind paced back and forth in anger. "Damn you Draith! I told you to _get Knuckles' friends_! Why'd you come back?" Draith sighed. He just walked into the lab, and Mastermind had been arguing with him for five minutes, exactly.

"I told you, I have them here, hidden, but I need my money first." Mastrmind pounded his fist.

"I've trusted you before, and you have FAILED every time!" Mastermind looked to a hooded figure entering the lab. He smiled. "But no worries. I've got a new assistant." Draith looked to the figure and frowned.

"What?" Mastermind smiled even more.

"You heard me. Rass here will serve me much better than you will ever." Draith shook his head.

"So what's it to me?" Mastermind looked at him confused, for he thought he had made it clear by now. But Draith tends to do that sometimes. Mastermind straightened his lab jacket and cleared his throat.

"It means, my dear friend, you're fired." Draith's heart dropped to an all time low. He started to sweat.

"I'm… fi… fired?" Mastermind nodded.

"Yes." Draith held his hands out.

"After all I've done for you, you're just gonna throw me out without a thanks?" Mastermind glared at him.

"You may take your leave." Draith suddenly became very pissed.

"BUT I'VE DONE SO MU-"

"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEADQUARTERS OR YOU WILL BE EXECUTED!" Draith stormed out of the lab, very, very, very, very, to the nearest extreme, in every aspect, pissed. He, without thinking, walked into the roome where Rouge and Sonic now hid behind a file cabinet. Draith walked over to the wall and punched it, causing it to crack at the point where his knuckle met the wall.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! THAT STUPID FUCKER!" Sonic came out from behind the cabinet.

"What's up Draith?" Draith punched the wall again.

"He FIRED me! I steal the Master Emerald for him and lure you guys in here and he FUCKING FIRES ME!" Rouge gasped.

"You what?" Draith looked at the two, very pissed.

"That's right. I stole that piece of shit Emerald in here. AND I brought you guys here and were about to capture you and turn you in to Mastermind! That's what THESE were for!" Draith pulled out the two sets of handcuffs. Sonic and Rouge stared. "It was to piss Knuckles off and make him go into deeper insanity. And he FIRES ME! THE PIECE OF SHIT!" Draith turned to the wall and punched it until a large hole was now where his fists had hit. Sonic tried to calm him down.

"It ok, Draith. We'll kick his ass. Plain and simple. Then we'll retrieve the Master Emerald." Rouge agreed. They both looked at Draith. Draith thought a minute and nodded.

"Yeah…" he looked at his fists. "we will." With that, they all looked at each other and headed to the main lab.


	10. Chapter 10

I can't finish this story, but here's what happens:

* * *

Rouge, Sonic, and Draith fight Mastermind and his apprentice.

Knuckles finds out from Tails, who disobediently followed Sonic.

Knuckles kicks some ass.

Mastermind completes what he was supposed to with the M.E. while his apprentice holds the gang off.

The guy (I forget his name) kills Knuckles, and everyone is pissed/crying, whilst Team ShaDuxX watches from a large overhead window.

Mastermind reveals that this was all just a 'mind game' and turns good.

His apprentice stays bad and tries to kill Mastermind.

Draith kicks that guy's ass.

Sonic kills that guy with the remaining Chaos Emeralds.

This leads to a system failure, making the place explode.

A few days later, they find their way back to the beach and have a funeral for Knux, Rouge crying her ass off.

Thystan sees something out of the corner of his eye on a cliff, and gets the feeling a certain someone isn't exactly dead….

* * *

Sorry for this inconvenience, but I had to tell you what happens so you know what's going on in the rest of the DOMINANT's. 


End file.
